Virtual Coffee Date: April 2018

Lots of things surprised me – everything from work to climbing to everything in between. It’s all surprising. Here’s my rundown.

If we were having coffee today...I’d tell youthat “expect the unexpected” holds true for everything. Everything that I said “no way that won’t happen but watch it happen anyways” actually did happen. I expect a quiet work week and instead I get madness. I expect to pass a lead climbing test on the first try, and instead,…I’m just incredibly annoyed and not lead certified. But on a positive note, I didn’t think I’d go to the Gunks the beginning of April and immediately make a new climbing friend, who would be at my birthday brunch two weeks later.

If we were having coffee today…we’d discuss howI’m officially done with physical therapy! I was actually kinda sad about it. I adore my physical therapist. That being said my ankle is better, I’ve been running, climbing, jumping, etc. on it. For the last few weeks of physical therapy, I was running on a treadmill, jumping on one leg, and doing jump squats. I’ve even ran a 10K on my ankle recently. My first race in over 6 months! It was also the longest distance I’ve ran in over 6 months. As much as I adore climbing, I love cardio especially spinning and running. Climbing forces you to use a lot of critical thinking skills while I can completely space out on spinning or running.

If we were having coffee today…if you told me 6 months ago that I’d be doing a lead climbing class, climbing outdoors, climbing 3x a week and making new climbing friends, I’d laugh at you.

But here we are – I’m pretty obsessed with climbing. And climbing outdoors has only proven that more to me. However, as I learned this month,outdoor climbing is so hard. So is lead climbing. Actually it’s all hard.

First of all, I didn’t expect to do a lead climbing class so soon. I met all the qualifications to actually do the class (i.e. be able to climb a 5.9+ comfortably) but I expected myself to keep climbing for some more time before doing the class. I did the class anyways and the falls were scary but so fun.

Secondly, I love outdoor climbing. I climbed outdoors a grand total of 3x in April. It’s more of a challenge since you just can’t follow a pre-determined colored route up the wall. One is forced to think more about body position and technique. As my instructor up in the Gunks would say, “you have to think about your feet more.” Plus another challenge is the height with outdoor climbing. It’s hard to train and get your endurance up for 80 foot outdoor climbs on 30 foot indoor walls.

If we were having coffee today...I’d tell you that I’m just not dealing with the bs anymore. I found myself going with my gut and calling out things where I would normally not say anything. Maybe it comes with the territory of finally becoming a lawyer or getting older but I’m just not holding back anymore. There’s a fine line between being aggressive and being tactful. So far, I feel as though I’m being tactful (at least I hope so). At the end of the day, it just boils down to the fact that I hate when my time is being wasted.

At the same time, I find myself not giving people what they expect from me. I think a lot of people expect me to be really assertive. But I get incredibly annoyed when the “other side” is too afraid or scared to ask for what they want. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about boys, court, or whatever else – I respond a lot more positively when people are just very direct with me.

If we were having coffee today…I’d tell you that I am so excited for Outdoorfest, starting flag football, and summer 2018. For the first time in years, I won’t be stuck studying for something this summer (anyone remember bar prep last year? hahaha). I’m way too excited for all the beach, climbing, and camping trips this summer.